Health authorities in Cambodia have warned that an 11-year-old girl has died from bird flu, marking the country’s first fatality from the virus in years. The girl from the rural southeastern province of Prey Veng in Cambodia fell ill on February 16, suffering a fever of up to 39 Celsius (102 Fahrenheit), along with coughing and throat pain. According to a statement from the country’s Health Ministry, she was then sent to be treated at a hospital in the capital, Phnom Penh, where she died shortly after being diagnosed on Wednesday.
In a statement, health officials stated that they have taken samples from a dead wild bird at a conservation area near the girl’s home, adding that teams in the area would also warn residents about touching dead and sick birds.
Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng warned that avian flu poses a particularly high risk to children, who may fall come into contact with the virus after feeding or collecting eggs from domesticated poultry, playing with the birds or cleaning their cages.
Bird flu, also known as avian influenza, normally spreads in poultry and wasn’t deemed a threat to people until a 1997 outbreak among visitors to live poultry markets in Hong Kong.
According to the NHS, the main symptoms of bird flu can appear very quickly and include, a very high temperature or feeling hot or shivery, aching muscles, headaches, and a cough or shortness of breath.
It generally takes three to five days for the first symptoms to appear after being infected, with other early symptoms including diarrhoea, sickness, stomach pain, chest pain, bleeding from the nose and gums and conjunctivitis.
Within days of symptoms appearing, it’s possible to develop more severe complications such as pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.
The NHS added that getting treatment quickly, and using antiviral medicine, may prevent complications and reduce the risk of developing severe illness.
Globally, the World Health Organisation estimated that there have been about 870 human infections of the H5N1 strain of the virus, of which 457 have resulted in deaths.
READ MORE: UK’s bird flu fears laid bare as death risk to humans unveiled
THIS IS A BREAKING STORY. MORE TO FOLLOW
